Pin curtain for pinspotter



7 J. ZUERCHER 23803x462 PIN CURTAIN FOR PINSPOTTER Filed March 22, 1952INVENTOR f JOHN ZUERCHER ATTORN Y United States Patent PIN CURTAIN FORPINSPOTTER John Zuercher, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to American Machine &Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application March 22, 1952,Serial No. 277 ,991

6 Claims. (Cl. 273-42) This invention relates to bowling alleyapparatus, and more particularly to a device for preventing bowling pinsknocked from a bowling alley by a ball from flying about and upwardly inthe pit of a bowling alley, or back into the gutters or up a bowlingalley.

The present invention is particularly advantageous as an adjunct for abowling pin spotting machine since it prevents bowling pins knocked orfalling from the playing bed of a bowling alley from flying upwardlyinto the operating mechanisms of a bowling pin spotting machine wherethey might cause damage to such parts.

The invention also solves the problem of preventing pins hit by a balland falling into the pit of a bowling alley from flying back into thegutters or up the alley where illegal pinfall might result and alsowhere it is necessary to provide suitable means for removing such pinsfrom the alley and the gutters either manually or by mechanical devices.

The present invention consists in a transverse generally verticallypositioned curtain mounted above the pit and extending downwardlythereinto adjacent to and in front of the backstop. Thi curtainpreferably is held taut and inclined upwardly away from the backstop, sothat when a pin strikes the curtain, it will be deflected downwardlyinto the pit of the bowling alley and come to rest therein.

The invention also consists in the provision of a resiliently mountedbackstop so constructed and coacting with the anti-flyback curtain thatballs are deflected downwardly into the pit and substantially preventedfrom flying back onto a bowling alley. In this way, danger of theirbouncing back onto the alley or gutters is substantially, if notentirely, eliminated.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved bowling pinhandling mechanism for use with a bowling alley, and more particularlyin connection with an automatic bowling pin spotting machine forpreventing flying about of bowling pins in the pit of a bowling alley,or forwardly therefrom onto the alley or the gutters thereof, orupwardly into the pin spotting machine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a generallyvertically positioned though inclined anti-flyback apron or curtainwhich extends across the pit of a bowling alley in front of the backstopor cushion, which is active in deflecting bowling pins knocked from theplaying bed of a bowling alley downwardly into the pit of the alley.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a transverse flexiblebowling pin deflecting curtain for deflecting flying bowling pinsdownwardly into the pit of a bowling alley and which is operative alsoin connection with a resiliently mounted backstop for preventing bowlingballs from bouncing out of the pit of a bowling alley onto the playingbed and gutters thereof.

With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, theinvention consists in certain combinations and constructions which willbe hereinafter fully described, and then set forth in the claimshereunto appended.

The accompanying drawing is an isometric view illus- 2,863,462 PatentedAug. '20, 1957 ICC trating a preferred form of the invention shown inconjunction with a vertically reciprocating pinspotter table suspendedover the alley bed and a resilient backstop S mounted in pit P of abowling alley A.

The pit curtain embodying the invention and designated generally C,extends transversely across pit P of bowling alley A in front of andspaced from backstop or cushion S. Curtain C is formed of a sheet offlexible material such as rubber, or canvas, laminated rubber andcanvas, or any suitable fabric or sheet material which is strong anddurable and can stand flexing without breaking or tearing. A leathercurtain has been found to give satisfactory results. In the illustratedembodiment, the upper end 4 of pit curtain C is secured to a horizontalrod 6, the ends of which are supported in arms 8, swingably mounted onsuitable studs 10 projecting from and held by vertical frame members 12of a vertically reciprocating pin spotter table T. This table may be ofthe same type and construction as that disclosed in co-pendingapplication, Serial No. 180,174, filed by Holloway et al. August 18,1950, now Patent 2,781,195, issued February 12, 1957, and since it formsno specific part of the invention, further description and showingthereof are deemed unnecessary.

Table T is supported at each side for movement to and from alley A by apair of connecting and supporting rods 14, the upper ends of which arepivoted to a pair of crank arms 16 mounted on a horizontal shaft 18rotated by suitable means (not shown) in proper timed relation with therest of the machine (not shown). For simplicity of illustration, onlyone red 14 and crank arm 16 are shown.

A pair of guide rods 21}, each pivoted at one end to stationary framemembers 22 of the machine, and at their other ends pivoted to a suitablebracket 24 attached to table T frame members 12, are provided to guidetable T during its vertical movements and also to maintain it in asubstantially horizontal plane at all times. Guide rods 20 also tend toprevent side sway of the table due to the manner in which they extendfrom the table frame 12 at an outward angle. Arms 8 extend rearwardlyand above guide rods 20 and rest loosely thereon. This provides aflexible and movable support for the upper end of pit curtain C, suchthat when table T is in its up position, curtain C is taut. When thuspositioned, it is located in operative position, and any flying pinsstriking it will be deflected downwardly into the pit. In this mannerpins are prevented from flying upwardly and over the backstop intooperative machine parts. So also pins are prevented from flying backonto the gutters or in front of the pin supporting deck of a bowlingalley from which they must be removed either manually or by mechanismprovided for that purpose. When, however, table T is lowered forrespotting purposes, not shown herein or described in detail, curtain Cflexes downwardly or moves downwardly further into the pit, dependingupon whether it hangs freely from rod 6, or is anchored by straps 32, ashown in the drawing.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated herein, aboutone-third of the distance from the bottom edge 26 of the curtain, thereis provided a transverse sleeve or pocket 28 which carries a horizontalrod or tube 30. Straps 32, attached to the uper portion'of back stopbacking plate 34, hold the lower portion of curtain C so that the majorupper portion 36 thereof forms a resilient, upwardly inclined or angularsheet or wall in front of and above backstop S. Therefore, thearrangement of the curtain is such that when a ball is thrown and pinsfly about the pit, they tend to strike the curtain and are deflecteddownwardly into the pit and are thus prevented from damaging thespotting table T or knocking down standing pins or flying up the alley.In the drawing, broken line arrow R indicates the path a flying pinmight take into pit P. Full line arrow F indicates the path this pin,deflected by curtain C, takes into pit P. The dotted lines Kn indicatethe pin after being deflected by said curtain into the pit P. V

Backstop S consists of a board or sheet.38 such as rubber, canvas orfiber extending transversely across the rear end of the pit and mountedon a transverse backing plate 34 suitably attached to a pair of arms 40fulcrumed on a horizontal shaft 42 supported on each end by suitablebearing brackets (not shown) which may be conveniently attached to theframe structure 22 secured to the kickbacks B of the alley. Eachbackstop supporting arm 40 is provided with an extension 44. To the freeend of each extension 44 is pivotally connected one end of a suitableshock absorber 46. The other end of each shock absorber 46 is attachedto a bracket 48 secured to the machine frame 22. In the drawing, onlyone shock absorber46 and bracket 48 are shown, it being understood thatan identical arrangement is used for the extension 44 shown at theright. This arrangement provides a controlled resiliency for thebackstop, and minimizes bouncing of the bowling balls after hitting saidbackstop.

The invention above described may be varied in construction within thescope of the claims, for the particular embodiments selected toillustrate the invention are but a few of the possible concrete formswhich my invention may assume. The invention, therefore, is not to berestricted to the precise details of the structures shown and described.

' What I claim is;

1. A pin deflecting device for a bowling pin spotting machine located atthe pit end of a bowling alley and provided with a pin spotting andrespotting table comprising a frame forming a part of said tablesuspended above the pin supporting bed of said alley, a pivoted armmounted at each side at the rear of said frame, a cross member supportedby the free ends of said arms, a flexible substantially pit-Wide curtainattached at one end to said cross member, a transverse pocket formed insaid curtain adjacent the lower end thereof, an elongated rod in saidpocket, a backstop located at the rear of said pit and rearwardly spacedrelative to said curtain, means attaching said rod to said backstop, andmeans for moving said frame to and from said bed of said alley, saidframe when located away from said alley being operative through saidcross member and rod to tauten said curtain and form a forwardlyinclined resilient deflecting surface for directing flying pins intosaid pit.

2; The device defined in claim 1, means movably mounting said backstop,including spaced support arms for said backstop, dash pots for absorbingshocks imparted to said backstop by the impact of an object strikingthereagainst from the alley side thereof, and means connecting said dashpots to said arms.

3. A device for use with a bowling pin spotting machine in preventingbowling pins knocked down by a ball from flying about in the pit of analley and back onto said alley and balls from bouncing back onto saidalley or gutters thereof comprising a backstop, a pit-wide curtainextending transversely across said pit and above and in front of saidbackstop, a support, means attachingjthe upper end of said curtain tosaid support whereby said curtain depends therefrom and provides adeflecting surface for pins striking thereagainst, means attaching alower portion of said curtain to the top of said backstop, said curtainhaving an apron depending downwardly from said portion attached to saidbackstop, and resilient mounts for said backstop, said backstopandcurtain coacting to deflect flying pins downwardly into said pit andsubstantially eliminate the bouncing of balls back onto said alley orsaid gutters.

4. In a bowling alley installation of the type comprising an alleyterminating in a pit, and a pin spotting machine associated with thealley and provided with a pin spotting table disposed above the alleybed adjacent the pit and adapted to be moved to and from the alley bedfor spotting and respotting pins on the alley bed, the combination of abackstop, means mounting said backstop in the pit transversely thereof,a pin-deflecting curtain disposed transversely of the pit and extendingupwardly and forwardly from said backstop, first mounting means attachedto the upper edge of said curtain and disposed adjacent the rear end ofthe table of the pin spotting machine, and second mounting meansattached to the lower edge of said curtain and disposed adjacent theupper edge of said backstop, whereby said curtain is mounted in aninclined position in which the curtain effectively closes the spacebetween said backstop and the pin spotting machine table. I

5. In a bowling alley installation of the type comprising an alleyterminating in a pit, and a pin spotting machine associated with thealley and provided with a pin spotting table disposed above the alleybed adjacent the pit and adapted to be moved to and from the alley bedfor spotting and respotting pins on the alley bed, the combination of asubstantially rigid backstop disposed transversely in the pit at a pointspaced forwardly from the rear wall thereof, means mounting saidbackstop for rearward movement under the impact of objects striking thefront face of the backstop, a flexible substantially pitwide deflectingcurtain extending upwardly and forwardly from said backstop and havingits lower edge attached to said backstop, the length of said deflectingcurtain approximating the space between the backstop and the pinspottingtable when the table is in raised position, and mounting means spacedabove the plane of the alley bed and secured to the upper edge of saidcurtain.

6. In a bowling alley installation of the type comprising an alleyterminating in a pit, and a pin spotting machine associated with thealley and provided with a pin spotting table disposed above the alleybed adjacent the pit and adapted to be moved to and from the alley bedfor spotting and respotting pins on the alley bed, the combination of 'asubstantially rigid backstop disposed transversely in the pit at a pointspaced forwardly from the rear wall thereof, means mounting saidbackstop for rearward movement under the impact of objects striking thefront face of the backstop, a flexible substantially pit-wide deflectingcurtain extending upwardly and forwardly from said backstop, meanssecuring the lower edge of said curtain to said backstop at the upperedge of the backstop,

and means securing the upper edge of said curtain to the rear edge ofthe pin spotting table.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

